


Hecate (Part One)

by skymageariel



Series: 31 days of The Dragon Prince [12]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Autumn, Cat, F/M, Filler, Fluff, Fun, Gen, Modern, Modern AU, fall - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:54:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26990098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skymageariel/pseuds/skymageariel
Summary: No one could have expected that This would be their situation on a Saturday.
Relationships: Rayllum (The Dragon Prince)
Series: 31 days of The Dragon Prince [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946767
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	Hecate (Part One)

“Okay, how did we get here?” Callum asked, straining against the weight of Rayla’s car, which had fallen into a muddy ditch. “I bring a cat to your house and everything falls apart?”

“Well, you are allergic,” Rayla reasoned, struggling to push her car back onto the road. “Plus you brought me a  _ black  _ cat. Those are bad luck.”

“No, they’re not!” Callum insisted. “I just have the worst luck on the planet, a cat can’t control that!”

They continued to push Rayla’s car, but the wheels were just not moving, stuck in a thick and sticky mud that held onto the car like glue. Overhead, thunder sounded and dark clouds rolled in. The cat jumped onto the dashboard, watching intently as Callum and Rayla studied the sky. Lightning flashed in the distance, and thick raindrops hit the car. The kids looked at each other, rain picking up, before getting back inside. 

“Guess we have to call a tow truck,” Rayla grumbled, soaking wet. The cat came up next to her, standing on the console, trying to bite Rayla’s ear. “And we still need to get you to a vet.”

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Callum grumbled, running his hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean to get you into this mess.” He sneezed, and Rayla noticed red spots appearing on his cheeks.

“It’s okay,” Rayla smiled, petting the cat. “You just wanted to help.”

“Yeah,” Callum laughed weakly. “It’s crazy to think- when I woke up this morning, I did not think I would wind up here.

—

“RAYLA!” Callum burst through her front door, holding a shoebox, not even bothering to knock. “RAYLA I NEED YOUR HELP!” He rushed through the house, almost running into Ethari as he bound up the stairs, clutching the shoebox for dear life. Ethari shrugged; this was not uncommon. Callum ran up the stairs and down the hall, tossing open her bedroom door to find Rayla fast asleep. “RAYLA WAKE UP!”

“What?” she grumbled, laying face first in her pillow.

“Rayla, we have an emergency!” He set the shoebox on her desk and took off the lid. “I found this cat in a pile of leaves, I think she’s sick!”

“You what?” Rayla sat straight up, her morning hair giving Callum a reason to chuckle. Rayla frowned.

“Sorry, sorry. Look!” He lifted a small, black, fuzzy ball of fur from the box, holding it close to his chest. The cat let out a soft  _ mew! _ and started purring. “I don’t know what to do!” Swinging her feet over the side of the bed, Rayla shrugged. 

“Take her to a vet.”

“I don’t have any money!”

“Get your dad to take her to a vet.”

“Rayla, my dad’s-”

“Oh yeah.” Rayla stood, yawning. “Why’d you come to me, then? You know Runaan’s allergic.”

“I don’t know- You’re the person I go to with stuff like this!” Callum held the cat closer. “And I forgot Runaan was allergic, I’ll clean the whole house.”

“It’s fine,” Rayla yawned again, brushing her hair. “What makes you think the cat is sick? She seems fine to me.”

“She’s sneezing a lot.”

“So?”

“So, what if she has a cold!” Callum stepped closer. “Please help me take care of her until I can find her home, or at least take her to the vet!” he asked. “Please, please, please!” Rayla turned to look at him. She glanced at the cat he was holding, who really seemed to like him.

“Aren’t you allergic to cats, too?”

He sneezed. “No.”

“You have baby sneezes,” Rayla laughed. “Have you tried talking to Claudia? Isn’t she in vet school?”

Callum’s face lit up- “Oh, yeah!” He put the cat back in the box, where it started meowing loudly. “Can you come with me?”

“I just woke up.”

“Pleeeeeeaaaassseee?” he put on a face that Rayla just couldn’t say no to.

“Fine,” she grumbled. “Your car, or mine?”

“Mine almost broke down on the way here.”

“My car it is, then.”

The two plus the cat piled into Rayla’s old station wagon, ready to head over to Claudia’s for a cat checkup. 

Rayla kept her car really clean. Besides some gum wrappers in the cup holders, there was nothing in the vehicle besides herself, Callum, and now, a cat, who had pushed the lid off the shoebox and was walking all over Callum’s lap, who sneezed every time her fur got near his face. 

Phone in hand, Callum let out a sigh.

“Claudia’s at her mom’s house. Across town.” He sneezed again. “That’s almost an hour away.”

“Okay, you’re definitely allergic to cats,” Rayla told him. “Whatever ends up happening with her, she can’t stay with you for too long.”

“What!” he protested. “I can’t let Hecate go by herself with someone new! She likes me!”

Rayla glanced over at him. “Hecate?”

“I think it’s a pretty name, leave me alone.”

“Well, stop calling it a name. You’ll get attached.”

“I’m already attached,” Callum said, laughing as Hecate started playing with his jacket strings.

“Whatever,” she wrote him off, absentmindedly, looking towards the sky as they drove. “Check the weather for me, will you? Those clouds look… not good.”

Tapping his phone and stifling a sneeze, Callum read, “It’s not supposed to rain all that much. Just a light sprinkle.” A big, fat raindrop hit the windshield as they turned onto some backroads. “Maybe that was a lie,” he reasoned, as more and more raindrops hit the car.

“This is definitely not how I planned spending my Saturday,” Rayla grumbled, slowing down as they went through the rain. Though the roads were twisted and turned at every point, making Callum feel carsick, Hecate was having a great time. She loved putting her front paws on the window to watch the scenery move by, and even became interested in the raindrops that collected on the glass. The leaves on the trees were turning an ugly shade of brown, though some turned bright orange or yellow. Leaves were scattered across the road, shiny and pressed against the pavement. Everything seemed to be moving smoothly. Until a rumbling sound came from under the car.

“What’s that?” Callum asked, holding onto the cat and sneezing. Rayla’s. face was pale, her hands gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white.

“What do you think, dummy!”

“I failed my driver’s test four times, do you think I know how cars work!?”

“Callum, we’re hydroplaning!”

“Well, that’s not good!” he yelled as Rayla did her best to keep the car on the road. “Make it stop!”

“I can’t!” she yelled back. “I just have to steer until it stops!”

“When will it stop!”

“I don’t know!” She started shaking, and Callum hugged the cat closer. “There’s a big turn coming up, if this doesn’t stop soon-“ She cut herself off. “Make sure you’re wearing a seatbelt!” The rumbling under the car only got louder, sending the cat into a panic. She jumped from Callum’s arms into the backseat, running across the floor. Out the windshield, they could see the turn coming up, a sharp left with no guardrail in case they spun out of control. 

...Which they did. 

After a shoddy attempt at a turn in the rain, Rayla’s car decided not to do the thing she was asking and fell right into a ditch, getting stuck in the mud. Callum and Rayla sat back, shocked and slightly out of breath. Nothing in the car seemed to have broken, no smoke from under the hood, no cracked or shattered windows. They got lucky.

“Are you okay?” Rayla asked, looking over at him, shaking.

Callum nodded. “Yeah. You?”

“I’m okay,” she breathed, unbuckling her seatbelt.

“Meow,” said Hecate, jumping up onto the console. Callum let out a breath, petting her head. 

“I guess we should tell Claudia we’ll be running late?” he ventured. 

“First things first, we need to get my car out of this ditch.” She opened the door, stepping outside into the rain. Almost as soon as Callum followed suit, the rain came to a stop, raindrops falling less and less. “Wonderful,” Rayla groaned. “It stopped raining  _ after _ I crashed my car. Cool.”

“Well, it wasn’t your fault,” Callum suggested, walking around to the front bumper, which was stuck in the mud. “At least I think it wasn’t your fault.”

“It wasn’t,” Rayla answered, meeting him in the dirt. Hecate meowed from inside the car. “What are we gonna do?”

“Well,” Callum sighed, “I think step one would be getting the car out of the mud and making sure it’s not broken.”

“It’s not.” 

“How do you know?”

“No hazard lights came on when we crashed, which means there isn’t anything under the hood that compromises our drive.” Rayla glanced up at him. “I’m a little concerned you don’t know that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he shrugged, “Let’s get this car out of the mud.” After a few minutes of struggling, the car did not budge. “Okay, how did we get here”?” Callum strained against the weight of Rayla’s car. “I bring a cat to your house and everything falls apart?”

“Well, you are allergic,” Rayla reasoned, struggling to push her car back onto the road. “Plus you brought me a  _ black  _ cat. Those are bad luck.”

“No, they’re not!” Callum insisted. “I just have the worst luck on the planet, a cat can’t control that!”

They continued to push Rayla’s car, but the wheels were just not moving, stuck in a thick and sticky mud that held onto the car like glue. Overhead, thunder sounded and darker clouds rolled in. Hecate jumped onto the dashboard, meowing at the kids as loud as she could. Lightning flashed in the distance, and heavy raindrops began to fall once more, landing fast against the tops of their heads. With a heavy sigh, Rayla trudged back to her door, rain drenching the two of them.

“Guess we have to call a tow truck,” Rayla grumbled, soaking wet as she sat in her seat. Hecate came up next to her, standing on the console, trying to bite Rayla’s ear. “And we still need to get you to a vet.”

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Callum grumbled, running his hand through his hair. “I didn’t mean to get you into this mess.” He sneezed, and Rayla noticed red spots appearing on his cheeks.

“It’s okay,” Rayla smiled, petting the cat. “You just wanted to help.”

“Yeah,” Callum laughed weakly. “It’s crazy to think- when I woke up this morning, I did not think I would wind up here.” He sighed again, looking over as Hecate curled up in Rayla’s lap. Glancing around at the mess he’d caused, he said- “I’m really sorry about this. Whatever damages there are, I’ll help you pay for them.”

“Eh, that’s okay,” Rayla said, petting Hecate as she slept. “You have to get her to the vet, remember?”

Callum sneezed. Twice. “Yeah,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “I’ll let Claudia know what’s up.”

“I’ll call a tow truck,” Rayla said. The rain pounded on the roof of the car, Hecate snoring softly. Rayla called the tow company, explaining the situation as best she could, while Callum had a really strange text exchange with Claudia.

_ Callum: Hey, we’re running a bit late. Apparently wwe hydro dipped and now we’re sitting in a ditch. Rayla’s calling a tow company. Everyone’s okay. _

_ Claudia: You hydrodipped the car? _

_ Callum: Apparently this happens when it rains.  _

_ Claudia: Do you mean… hydroplaned? _

_ Callum: Yeah, that! _

_ Claudia: Oh, okay. How far away are you? _

_ Callum: At that turn on King’s street, like half an hour away. _

_ Claudia: Is the cat okay? _

_ Callum: She’s fine. Asleep.  _

_ Claudia: Why did you wanna bring her to the vet? _

_ Callum: She was cold and shaky when I first found her, but she seems to be doing okay now. Either way, I figured a checkup would be a good idea.  _

_ Claudia: I’m heading back to my dad’s tomorrow. If you can hold off until then, I’ll be able to meet you at your place. In the meantime, you and Rayla should take care of yourselves.  _

_ Callum: Thanks, Clauds. It means a lot. _

_ Claudia: Of course! Please stay safe, the storm isn’t supposed to let up any time soon. _

_ Callum: Wonderful. _

_ Claudia: Call me if you need anything. _

Callum put his phone in his pocket, watching out the window as the rain fell. He sneezed  _ again,  _ that spot on his neck starting to itch a bit more than it should. This was starting to worry him. 

“The tow truck won’t be here for another hour,” Rayla said, hanging up her phone. She looked up, shock painting her expression, as she pointed at Callum’s cheek. “You have hives. You need to go to the hospital.”

“What! Ha! Hahahaha! Ha! No.” He coughed, feeling an unusual scratch in the back of his throat. 

“You’re having an allergic reaction to Hecate. Do you have an epipen or something?”

“No, because I’m not allergic to anything.”

“Good lord,” Rayla muttered. “I’m calling 911.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! hope you enjoy- see you tomorrow!


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